European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 26, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The original Johnstown he people came out alive from tree skewered Page 14 the homeless put up rough Hillside the stars and stripes the Little City o nestled in a deep Valley of Western Pennsylvania Allegheny was a pleasant and profitable place live during the Mailho Ghiri some aspects it resembled a West Ern mining what with its 1z3 saloons and a discreetly unrecorded number of establishments catering to Earthie still it had a blossoming culture sat urday night band lectures in the Washington Street opera approximately citizens lived in this Happy half of item in Johnstown and the rest in the Little Circle of satellite towns Cambria East Conemaugh and Franklin shores of the Little Conemaugh River and Stony those two streams joined forces below Roll ing on to the Allegheny River and then to the Iron and Stec formed the basis for the regions pros blast using the newly developed Bess Emer lit the hillsides with almost continuous fire John towns famous Cambria Iron employed men and even Andrew Carnegie Pittsburgh Mills were not producing As much tonnage As Dan a orrels Cambria Johnstown Cit liens were proud of the towns Prog Early in 1io a Telephone Exchange had built and boasted More than Are made the cites streets Bright and it was a pleasure to ramble Down to the new depot to watch the mall train come there was a new a new hotel on Clinton Street advertised us elevator and team fifteen Miles of this flourishing Vallej and some 4so feet above imprisoned by a great earthen Lay manmade Lake the Lake was two Miles Long and was estimated to contain 20 million tons of fed into it by South Fork this with its 459 acres of posted fishing was to figure extravagantly in the furious aftermath of John towns tragedy the world famous flood of years historian David Mcculough took a fresh look at documents about the disaster and came up with a monumental retelling of the Story of the Toum published by Simon and schuster in with the Story of last weeks Johnston flood disaster freshly a Here is a look at Theori Gwal the Cut Lens la the explains bad Little to do with Lake this was sacred territory sacred to the convenience and pleasure i a Small groan of Puu Burgh Iron and Nee among them Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay two of Industrial the South Fork fishing and Hunting club had been or a anted 10 years before and owned not Only the Lake and the dam but much of the land around the Region was of limits to All but members and selected the dam itself had been intended to serve a useful Pur pose in earlier u had been built to provide a Reser voir for water fed into the main line canal Pennsylvania transportation Challenge u new Yorks Erie but the Railroad Era had put canals out of business and with that there was no practical purpose in maintaining the South Fork Creek the Pitts Burgh sportsmen therefore stocked the Lake with i spent the pleasant Slimmer months relaxing in Cotses and a Rococo Palace clubhouse on its so from time to some fear had been Over the safely of the particularly since pipes to take care of any excess water seemed Toj and fish clogged with fun restricted the How of water Over the dams Only spa Elf another engineering fault the dam sagged y where it was four feet lower than at its at when the Rains came and houses at the of the Little Conemaugh River were knee deep in i controversies raged Over the safety of the dam pessimistic conclusion was thai someday bust and them Pittsburgh dudes wont a i Stop and nothing was on the night of May the signal 1 ice announced cwt the Middle Atlantic n expect severe local on the Folio morning it reported continuing threatening or the warnings failed to Dampen the spirits of thai Day excursion lists from Altoona celebrating memorial the morning the City was in its gayest with in banners and Flowers said the watching the scene from his new parsonage facing the municipal the grand headed by the fire a pad with Flowers sprouting from their squeaking tr1 got under Way a Little after two Oclock in the spectators cheered the Hometown drum 1 the grand army the sons of the austrian music society on its three mile March t by nine Oclock by the most of the tired of had retired to their i More Liberal element had scattered to the goodly sized audience was enjoying augustlrt1 night the opera the rain began at a gentle t eng Force during the Nihl and becoming Jurious the inhabitants slept  i after mid remembered waking i the Lake coup laugh Tim 014 Wall a tree Teel to it Law on i lag the tremendous Copacea Truax it Power let Loose when All barriers from the the South Fork fat Eek ran i the town of South where it joined toe Little i Maugh the combined dropping e flowed around a great houses Hpe the Heel of which the Memsy rat Road crossed a t about a mile downstream from South Fork i Road signal lower overlooking a tiny wet i ing of 30 Bouses and a Sawmill known from this the Rule slowed Down by another Large twee saw Ca steadily Down into Nanine thex town suburbs of East  at the Western end of the Riv